1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for producing three-dimensional images and computer models of objects. In particular, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to apparatus which utilize a light source, a camera and a computer system to create computer images of objects.
2. Description of Related Art
In automated manufacturing industries, there has always been a need for automatic inspection of manufactured components. Some inspection systems utilize physical tools which inspect a component by making contact with the component to determine the shape and dimensions of the component. Contact-based inspection systems typically have numerous moving parts which tend to wear out and fail.
In order to eliminate the use of physical tools, non-contact systems utilize computer vision technology. Many of the non-contact systems are feature-based and perform considerable image processing to detect features, such as edges, to inspect objects. Such systems are typically time-consuming, hard to use for inspecting complex components, and difficult to change for inspecting a variety of components.